A Hunters Beginnings
by SammyHoodoo
Summary: A story about a hunter and his journey through the universe and his search for a mysterious past he has forgotten
1. Awakenings

"Guardian, on your feet" those were the words I woke up to. The words apparently having been spoken from a strange little drone floating in front of me. Also who's "guardian" it can't be me or I don't think it is, because I don't know quite who I am. I was dreaming for a long time... or maybe no time at all. I remember a stone tower and a crypt and a stench that would make machines weep but nothing else.

But that doesn't matter right now, the drone looks as if it's trying to dance but why? As I stand I see I'm in a hall? With towering shelves and another level with even more shelves that reached the ceiling and all the shelves were full of books. Similar in height so as to appear semiuniform but all varying in sizes, colors, and text on the spine. That was when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps, couple pairs of them.

The drone has stopped dancing and has materialized next to me, "guardian, grab the gun and get ready. Hostiles approaching from that end of the hall". Realizing I do, in fact, have a gun lying at my feet, my first thought is why is there a gun here? By this time the hostiles have entered the hall and approached me with their weapons firing. I was surprised to say the very very least.

Nonetheless, I pulled up the muzzle of my pistol and opened up. Two hunched over humanoid looking creatures with glowing eyes fell to the ground, limbs going limp and heads flying back. Then a third approached, this one has 4 arms and a bladed staff of some sort? Doesn't matter I think as i shoot and miss.

Maybe it does matter? It's stabbed me. It matters. I bring my gun up to the stabbing creature's temple and empty the magazine into the head and then down the neck, then into the remnants of the torso. I don't see this monster making any comebacks unless it can regrow a head which seems doubtful as the neck and part of the body aren't there anymore.

As I stand here in surprise, surveying the carnage I wrought and moment of calm, I collect my thoughts, some ammo, and attempt to repair the wound. There's wires cut and oil leaking out of me and I'm of the opinion my innards must remain innards and not outards. The the drone materializes again and shines a light on my wound and it starts to heal. Odd.

I ask "What are you?" It replies "It talks!!! Hello! I'm Ghost! I've awoken you with the hopes you might be my guardian and together we can fight the darkness!!! But first we must escape this library. Odd place to find an Exo, on Venus I mean. Not sure what you were trying to find here but I don't think you did".

I respond to this with "The hell'd you say? What's a guardian? What's the darkness? What's an exo? And why is it surprising about an Exo being in a library?". The Ghost doesn't seem phased by any of this, he simply replies "Head home now, answer questions later. Ready your weapon and follow my directions, I'll lead us out and to safety but first we need a ride to get to safety.

"Fine" I reply, "anything I can know right now?". The ghost says "Yes guardian!! You have abilities that will help us escape this place! You have a throwing knife and a grenade. They regenerate with time so don't worry about those tricks being one offs!". "Cheery twat, aren't you?"

The ghost falls slightly and dims it's lights for a moment before recovering "I've returned you from death and given you abilities and a second chance at existence!! And I get "cherry twat"!!???!! We shall discuss your lack of courtesy once we have reached safety!". I don't respond to this, due to the fact that most of everything I want revolves around reaching this apparent safety.

"You mentioned a ride, what're we riding out of here?" The ghost looks puzzled for a moment, or as puzzled as a faceless and bodiless machine can look perplexed, and says "A ship of course!". "Of course, how silly of me, when do we set sail captain? Also where's our ocean?". The ghost appears to be frustrated by this response and I watch as the blue light grows in intensity for a moment before the ghost grows still in the air, turns around, and announces "follow me guardian."

And then mutters "Why a hunter? I'd have happily taken a warlock or even a loud titan! But this!! The most churlish hunter I might have ever encountered! And I've only known you for a matter of minutes!!!" She shouts at me from across the library, I struggle to keep up because I walk and she simply floats,not inhibited by the overturned tables and shelves and simply hovering over the piles of books and chairs as I sprint around the piles of refuse.

After the ghost's game of catch-up, we're outside, and I'm shocked by the terrain! There's a statue of a winged woman and a few hundred feet beyond that, a cliff that drops suddenly to the ocean for what seems like hundreds of feet. "Was I correct in assuming we'll be traveling by a naval vessel?" I asked shocked that my sarcasm might be correct. Ghost replies "No, we will attempt to find a spacefaring type of ship. And hopefully gain passage to earth and the last city. If we're lucky we can hitch a ride with another guardian on a quest out here!!".

I glance around hoping to find a ride and one was flying right in our direction, "like that guy?" I ask, ghost spins around and says "NOPE, THAT'S A BAD GUY!!" And I watch as the ship drops more of the things that stabbed me earlier and a black orb with what appears to be a glowing purple eye. "Is that orb a cousin of yours?" Apparently not entertained by the jokes the ghost disappeared, leaving me to deal with the incoming fire from the ship and ghost's cousin.


	2. Walking

I watch as Ghost's cousin sends a ball of purple energy my general direction, I disregard it as I roll to my right and make a b-line for some higher ground. I turn to look for Ghost's cousin only to see him projecting energy onto his allies, enveloping then in a casing of lavender energy.

I start shooting at them and watch as they charge me unfazed and unharmed by my bullets. I swiftly ran the other direction and took cover while I collected my thoughts and formulated a plan. With my thoughts not gathered and no plan to speak of, I run at Ghost's cousin guns ablaze. This time I appear to be doing damage because as I shoot, the purple light flickers and it drops the shield it was projecting on his allies.

I throw a grenade towards his allies and pray that sorts them out and turn back around and realize I can see nothing but black metal and purple lights as I've gotten much to close to Ghost's cousin. I stab wildly thinking 'if I'm to die, I wish to die as the few minutes I was-' then I died.

I see nothing for a moment then I wake up. Seeing my grenade did the trick with the creatures behind me but the machine that killed me seemed to be slinking away. I sought to remedy that and take revenge for it having just killed me and so I did. As it floated away I shot it and it ceased to float and glow, becoming and inert and quiet hunk of metallic debris

Their ship must've fallen back sometime during the fight because it's no longer present above us as it was a moment ago. 'Guess we won't be taking their ship for a spin' I mutter as Ghost appears 'That seems like an inspired plan! Maybe not the wisest but it's a good start! Come, I'm picking up some other guardians just a ways away. Maybe they can take us back to the City!'.

'Don't suppose you'll be willing to answer my questions on the way' I state with a voice that oozes discontent. 'I'd rather talk when we have a secure place to chat but if you insist. What are you're inquiries?' She chirps. 'Tell me who I am, where I am, what attacked me, the place we are going to, and why you're helping me' I say calmly but quickly. She says back "You're a guardian! A warrior resurrected from death to fight for the light! You're on Venus, the Ishtar Academy to be precise. A location built by humanity before the collapse to collect and compare knowledge gathered over the years. You were attacked by the Fallen, a species from outside of our solar system that followed the Traveler after the Collapse. We are going to the Last City, a safe place for Guardians and other beings. I'm helping you because I saw in you a light I haven't in any others before"

A light that has the possibility to shine bright!!! I want to shine with you and help you realize the light within so that we might help those around and make all the lights around us all the brighter!!". If this Ghost was a person, they'd be out of breath. I realize that this brought forth some additional questions to my mind. I opted to let those questions rest for this moment and simply ponder the answers I received just a moment ago.

We walked and walked as I pondered in silence. We passed more buildings, heaps of rusted metal, the occasional Fallen but decided to scurry by quietly was the best option considering the available weapons weren't the best and conditions less than favorable. For hours we trudged forward. And trudged more and more until eventually we stumbled upon a clearing. With an armored being at the outskirts of said clearing talking to a floating ball. Not dissimilar to my own at this range.

This armored being, as I approached, became clearer. Colored like a the sky, a large smattering of sky blue covered the armor with accents of gold and deep blue along the edges and visor of the helmet. A helmet that turned my direction which then became a physical turn and then a full sprint. I wasn't ready for what approached, or so I thought until it stopped in front of me.

"The hell're you doing out here, Exo? And in as little armor as you're currently wearing it appears you have a death wish!!' the metallic being called out in a booming feminine voice. I replied calmly "If you have any spare armor I'll take it. Who's "Exo?"'. She appeared shocked if her body language was any indicator.

"You don't know what an Exo is?" She asked more calmly and quietly, as if she thought I'd run away. This was when my Ghost chimes in "He hasn't been awake very long. I found and revived him almost 24 hours ago. Don't suppose you're headed back City ways are you?' Ghost blipped hopefully.

The massive armored woman's posture changed as she looked upon me with a new appreciation in her visor, I think, because she then turned on her heel and said "Let's get you back to the City and sorted out! Maybe even learn a thing or two bout' ya along the way". I followed because my ghost followed with what would be a pep in her step if she didn't float like a swollen moth.


	3. Travelling

After walking for a small while longer, I'd had a chance to truly look at my surroundings. I was, at this point, walking through a jungle maybe? We were walking under a dense but patchy canopy, surrounded by trees, vines, the odd ruin and sometimes stepped on the odd piece of what looked like broken bronze machinery. We walked for a long while, after our initial meeting and conversation, before she spoke again. "What do you think you were doing in that library before you were killed?". I wasn't quite sure what she meant by that, "I don't know. Probably retrieving something vastly important to a cause I've since forgotten. Or maybe I was browsing. Who knows". I don't think I gave her the answer she was hoping for because she followed that up with "Well, whatever you were looking for, do you think you found it..." she trailed off, distracted by something ahead. I followed her gaze and saw a raised platform with some metallic statues surrounding a pillar with some glowing protrusions extending from odd places throughout the structure. "We don't need to go near that but you should probably know, those are Vex. Robotic planet consuming hive mind that wander time and space trying to consume the universe. Moral of the story, don't fight them until you have a few more weapons and a lot more experience". I followed her as we proceeded to give the platform a wide berth. After a few more minutes of walking we made it to her vehicle. It was... strange to say the least, it looked similar to the ships Ghost's cousin dropped in on. What were they, the Fallen I believe they were named by Ghost. Her ship looked like it was of fallen design or origin but with some modifications. Namely the paint job, it was bronze and teal with red highlights. We boarded, took off and before I knew it, we both lurched back into our seats and the view screen went... colorful? It looked like streaks of purple and blue and red faded in and out as the engine hummed, vibrating the hull and my chair in an almost calming fashion. Except that ghost was droning on about the wonders of the Last City and the technological advancements we make with every new discover, I started sleeping after that but she didn't notice and continued to drone to my dismay. When I awoke, ghost had stopped talking and the woman was up and not so armored. She had on some simple clothes and none of the armor of before. And was wielding two bowls with, as of yet, unseen steaming contents. She handed me one and sat down, turning her chair to face me. "Eat, that's my last packet of ramen so don't let it go to waste". I watched as she raised the bowl to her lips and I imitated as as the broth touched my lips, I realized I didn't have any lips. And spilled the broth all over myself, although I did manage to save the solid contents of the bowl and a small portion of the liquid. The woman had quite a laugh watching me attempt to eat my ramen, but after she finished her laughs she handed me a rag to dry myself off with and held my bowl as dryed myself as best I was able. She said "well, sorry probably should've seen that coming, most Exos' need a seal of some sort to ingest food and liquids. You don't need them but you have the abilities to eat and drink". I, again, wasn't sure what she meant and asked "What do you mean I don't need to eat or drink?". She looked puzzled but said "you're and Exo, a sentient robot. You're history and original purpose was lost to time, they say you were made during the golden age for war. Others say as vessels for souls. Others still say you're frames that evolved their own programming and gained sentience. No one knows but you're a machine is the simple answer to your question". I didn't quite know what that meant for me except that nothing, as far as I was concerned, had changed at all because now I want to see what that ramen tastes like.


End file.
